RARITAN TOWNSHIP — Since her son died 25 days ago, Karen Gilbert has discovered the smallest detail can move her to tears. It could be a picture sitting on the dining room table. An old T-shirt in the laundry room. A reminder about the senior prom.

But as she walked into the facility this afternoon to watch the Hunterdon Central High School baseball team play its first home game since their teammate and her son — 18-year-old Kevin Gilbert — died in a car crash March 12, Karen Gilbert felt a sense of comfort pour over her.

Hunterdon Central baseball team honors late teammate Kevin Gilbert Hunterdon Central baseball player Kevin Gilbert died in a car accident on his way to an early-morning practice on March 12. His car inexplicably veered off the two-lane road, through bushes, onto the lawn and crashed into a tree. Nearly one month later his team honored him and his parents at their home opener in Flemington. The boys sprinted to center field and knelt around Kevin’s No. 12 jersey placed on the grass. They later presented Kevin’s parents with a framed red jersey and an encased baseball. The players also unveiled a plaque attached to the right field fence with Kevin’s name and jersey number. (Video by Andre Malok / The Star-Ledger)

She gazed across the ballpark and saw reminders of her son everywhere. His former teammates wore hats with his initials and jersey number — No. 12 — stitched on the sides. Their wrists were wrapped with light blue bracelets that also bore his number. And hanging in the dugout was the same gray uniform he had worn in three years as a star center fielder.

Instead of being overcome by his absence, she felt engulfed by his presence.

“I miss not seeing him, but it makes me feel good to be (here),” Gilbert said. “I thought it would be hard, but it’s not hard. It just feels good. I don’t know, maybe because I feel closer to him. It’s not painful at all.”

With their bats exploding, Hunterdon Central, ranked No. 9 in The Star-Ledger’s statewide poll, went on to beat Montgomery, 6-2. The Red Devils (1-1) are preparing for a run at the Group 4 state championship, and their play will be fueled by thoughts of Kevin, the team said.

“Our group is working every day to try and get through it,” Hunterdon Central coach Mike Raymond said leading up to the game. “At the end of the day, he’s not there. We miss him as a baseball player and we miss him as a friend.

“But he’s always with us. Somehow, some way.”

Before the game, the team sprinted to center field, wrapped their arms around one another and knelt. With Kevin’s No. 12 jersey placed on the grass, they said a prayer and then burst up from the ground, clapping and shouting.

Moments later, the team presented Kevin’s parents — Karen and husband Gary — with a framed red jersey and an encased baseball. They also unveiled a wooden plaque attached to the right field fence adorned with Kevin’s name and jersey number.

In the first inning, one of Kevin’s best friends on the team — senior Chris Suseck — crushed a home run to right field almost directly over the plaque.

“Kev will always be with us,” Suseck said. “I figure we have the biggest advantage in the state — we’ve got four outfielders.”

Kevin was driving along Route 523 on his way to an early-morning practice when he veered off the road and crashed into a tree. Skid marks and gouges in the grass are still visible at the scene of the accident. Bits of bark are torn from the tree the car struck. A memorial of dried flowers, notes and a baseball remain next to the tree.

His parents said police are still investigating the cause of the crash. They added that Kevin was not texting or on the phone during the accident, but that speed and inexperience were likely factors.

Since that frantic day, Kevin’s teammates and the community have tried to cope with the loss of such a promising young life. His teammates have used his memory as a driving force to work harder in practices and games. The players wore hats personally inscribed on the inside of the brim with inspirational messages dedicated to Kevin.

“There will not be a game this year where we don’t think about him,” said senior Josh Ake, one of Kevin’s closest friends on the team. “He’s there with us every step of the way.”

Ake struck out his first two times at bat today, but when he strode to the plate in the fifth inning, he said, he was talking to Kevin in his head.

He promptly hit a home run.

“He came through in the clutch,” Ake said.

Kevin was a three-year starter for Hunterdon Central and helped lead the Red Devils to the Group 4 championship as a sophomore. He batted .330 last season and had planned to attend Temple University next year on a baseball scholarship.

“The enormity of the loss is incredible,” Gary Gilbert said. “But the support we’ve gotten is equally as enormous. It’s been an incredible month. It’s been overwhelming at times, but at the same time people have really come to our support.”

Friends and family point to Kevin’s wide, beaming smile as his signature characteristic. He was also an excellent basketball player and snowboarder. His father recalls their favorite pastime from his youth: roof ball, a game in which Gary would launch tennis balls onto the family’s sloped roof as Kevin and his older brother, Stephen, scrambled to catch the balls before they hit the lawn.

The family has also found comfort in stories that have emerged since Kevin’s death. As a freshman, he befriended an unpopular kid at school and sat with him at lunch each day. And when he’d come up to bat for Hunterdon Central, little kids on the sidelines would drop everything to rush over and watch.

“It’s amazing he’s gone,” Gary Gilbert said. “It’s numbing. But looking back on the memories, it’s also comforting to know that he had a great, great life in a short amount of time.